Train-order holder.



J. M. HANLEY.

TRAIN ORDER HOLDER.

nrmonmn FILED Nov, 17,1909.

' Patentd Aug. 23, 191'0.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN M. HANLEY, or .ALTONA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALF 'IO WILLIAM (J.

' CASEY, or ALTONA, NEW YORK.

TRAIN-ORDER Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 23, 1910.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN M. HANLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Altona, in the county of Clinton and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Train-Order Holder, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates .to train order holding devices and has for an object to provide a message holding staff to be held by the station agent which will have a swinging arm at its free end to cooperate in holding the message securing member so that as the message is taken up by a member of the t train crew of a rapidly moving train, the

arm will yield in the direction that the train is moving whereby greater accuracy in taking up the message is secured than hitherto. A further object is to provide a. message intercepting member .to be held by a member of the train crew which will have a V- shaped portion to guide the message securing member to a pocket from which the said member cannot be accidentally dislodged.

The invention embraces the structure illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View of a message holding staff assembled with the message securing member. Fig. 2 is a modification of the message securing member. Fig. 3 is another modification of the message securing member. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the intercepting member.

Like characters of reference designate similar parts in the views shown.

Referring now to the drawing, 1 designates a staff which may be made of any. desired material, but preferably of wood. An arm 2 is pivoted at one end to the staff and is sufficient in length to extend approximately to the extremity of the staff. A chain or similar yielding connector 3 connects the staff and arm adjacent their points of meeting and limits the extent of opening between the free ends of the staff 1 and arm 2 while permitting the arm to freely swing on its pivot 1. Arranged transversely upon the free end of the arm and staff are brackets 5 which may be of any desired construction, the preferable form being illustrated in the drawing. Each of the brackets terminates at its opposite extremities in outwardly curved portions 6 which constitute means for retaining the message holding member 8. The message holding member 8 is preferably formed from a. single length of wire and is provided intermediate its ends with a spiral spring 9 between the convolutions of which the message 10 may be brackets, as above described. A clip 17 of any preferred form may be secured to the message holding member to receive the message.

In Fig. 3 is shown another modification of the message-holding member which is in the form of a closed hoop, as shown at 18. A clip 19 of any preferred form may be secured to the hoop to receive the message. This hoop will be engaged over the pairof brackets disposed on the arm 1 and will be held securely thereby until taken off by the trainman.

For removing the message holding member from the staff an intercepting device 20 is provided. The intercepting device is preferably formed from a single length of wire which is looped upon itself adjacent one extremity to form a convenient grip 21. The intermediate portion of the intercepting member is bowed outwardly, as shown at 22 and 23, to form a substantially V-shaped guide. An open eye 24 is formed at the apex of the V-shaped guide, the purpose of which is to receive the message holding member, the eye being less in cross dimension than the length of the eyes 12 and 13 so that, as the message holding member gravitates when being taken up, the eye 12 will engage the eye 24 and prevent the accidental dislodgment of the message holding member from the intercepting member.

In operation themessage is placed in the message receiving device 9 and the message holding member 8 is arranged upon the extremities of the brackets disposed upon the arm and staff, care being taken that the said member is placed on the securing portions of the brackets that are turned in the direction of the movement of the oncoming train. The engineer or conductor extends the intercepting device so that the message holdin member will be taken into the V-shape guide as the train passes by. The inclined sides of the V-shaped ide direct the message holding member ack into the eye or pocket 18, which latter securely holds the member until the message is taken therefrom. It will be noted that as the intercepting member engages the message holding member its impact will dislodge the latter from the brackets. The arm 2 will swing in the direction of the motion of the train at the instant the message holding member is bein taken up so that the message holding memlier will not'be hurled from the staff by the impact of the intercepting member, as is sometimes the case in the rigid stafls now in use.

In order to promote the efliciency of the device by night as well as b day a torch 25 is arranged upon the sta 1 so that the position of the message holding device upon the stall may be visible to the member of the train crew whose duty it is to receive the message.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a train order holder, the combination of a'stafl, a swinging arm pivoted to the stafl", a detachable message holding member, brackets disposed transversely on the stafi and arm to receive the message holding member, each bracket terminating at its opposite extremities in securing means whereby the messa e holding member may be mounted upon either side of the stafi' and arm.

2. In a train order holder, the combination oi}- a stall, a signal light on said stafi', a swinging arm pivoted at one end to said staif, a message holding member, a message holdingdevice on said member, and brackets on said stall? and arm to receive the messageholding member, each of said brackets being disposed transversely on said staff and arm and having terminal securing means whereby to secure the message holding member on either side of said stall and arm.

3. In a train order holder, the combination of a staff designed to be carried by a person, a swinging arm secured to said stafl adjacent its free end, a message holding member detachably secured to the free ends of said stafi and arm brackets mounted transversely on the stall and arm whereby to secure the message holding member on either side of said staff and arm, and an intercepting member carried by one of the train crew to remove the message holding member from the stafi and arm while the train is in motion.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN M. HANLEY.

Witnesses:

CLIFFORD P. STARK, JAMES G. KENNEDY. 

